


The Bun and Run

by aeroblue



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Silly Supermarket AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-27
Updated: 2017-04-27
Packaged: 2018-10-24 17:10:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10746150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeroblue/pseuds/aeroblue
Summary: A red-haired man keeps coming to the supermarket Tyler works at and leaving baked goods in all the wrong places. Tyler decides to do something about it.(Inspired by prompt: repeatedly comes into the shop I work at and picks up a lettuce then half way through the shop decides they don’t want the lettuce and puts it back on the shelf next to them regardless of what aisle they’re in au)





	The Bun and Run

**Author's Note:**

> my first fic - please be kind! ✿

The first time it happens, Tyler is arranging oranges. There's not much else to do in the store on a slow Wednesday afternoon, so he takes his time making sure there's a balance between the smaller and bigger ones. He's bored out of his mind and the ugly green employee shirt he's forced to wear keeps scratching the back of his neck.

A flash of color catches his attention. A man with bright red hair wanders into the fruit and vegetable aisle, wearing black jeans and a t-shirt that accentuates his lean physique. Tyler is less bored already. He feigns particular interest in the orange he's holding when the man passes him. He catches a woody, goody-smelling smell – Tyler's never been very good at putting his finger on scents – and automatically turns his head to stare at the man with longing. His infatuation is short-lived, however, because the man stops to examine a paper bag from his basket and then casually places it next to the watermelons before leaving.

Tyler huffs as he walks toward the watermelons. There are more than enough annoying things about working in a store, but this really takes the cake – people could just walk a few extra steps instead of having him clean up their messes. He looks inside the bag and rolls his eyes. His neat-freak manager would never let him put buns back in the bread section if there's a chance someone has touched them. So that's four perfectly good whole-wheat buns with pumpkin seeds gone to waste. Thanks very much, red-headed asshole.

A few days later, Tyler is trying to explain to a lovely but nearly deaf old lady where she can find cat food. He finally gives up and leads her to the other end of the store. She kisses his cheek as a thank you and he's torn between feeling uncomfortable and endeared. When he gets back to the boxes of products he's been opening, he finds a paper bag lying on the shelf next to the sliced ham. He eyes it suspiciously and when he peeks inside, his suspicions are confirmed. Whole-wheat buns with pumpkin seeds. Four of them, to be precise. He looks around, but the flash of red hair is nowhere to be seen. With a sigh, he picks up the bag and takes it to his manager, who's totally going to think he's doing this on purpose to get free baked goods.

It takes a week before the man to returns to the store, but when he does, Tyler is ready. He follows the man around the store in the stealthiest way he can, arranging random products on the way and trying to look innocent. Sure enough, the man stops by the bread section and puts four pumpkin-seed whole-wheat buns into a paper bag. Tyler observes the man's tattooed bicep swell as he lifts his basket. Very suspicious, indeed.

After following the man around the entire store, Tyler is almost disappointed to find the bag of buns still safely nestled in the basket among some taco shells, rice, and lettuce. Then, as the man is waiting in the register line while Tyler rearranges some packs of gum, he picks up the paper bag and frowns at it. Tyler stares intently and feels his heart rate pick up ('Is this what your life has come to?' asks a small voice in his head that he ignores). The man makes some more faces at the bag, looking doubtful and then pained and finally defeated before lowering his hand to put the bag next to the register--

'No!' Tyler yells, lurching forward.

The man freezes and stares at him. So does everybody else around them. Tyler swallows and looks around, suddenly very aware of the bright buzzing lights and the pop song playing through tinny speakers.

'I, uh...' he stutters. The man has pretty eyes, he notices. Brown and warm and almond-shaped. 'I mean, don't put that there. Please.'  


'Oh,' the man looks at the bag in his hand with a confused expression. He slowly extends his arm in Tyler's direction like someone trying to give a wild animal food without being bitten. Oh, God, Tyler thinks, his cheeks burning.

'Thanks,' he murmurs and clutches the bag awkwardly.

The man nods, still looking confused, and turns away. A sense of something rushes through Tyler. He looks around and it seems like most people have stopped staring. You know what? Fuck it.

'Wait,' he says. The man turns around again and Tyler walks up to him. 'I'm sorry, that was weird. It's just, I keep seeing you leaving these bags in different places?' he trails off, feeling awkward again, but the man just laughs. His eyes crinkle happily and Tyler stares in amazement.

'Nice tats, man,' he says, pointing at Tyler's arm. 'I'm Josh.'

Tyler wonders if he's having a stroke.

'Tyler,' he replies automatically.

'Hi, Tyler,' Josh says. 'Would you mind helping me bag these groceries?'

Tyler never finds out what the deal with the buns was. He does, however, find out a lot about Josh Dun himself. He finds out that Josh is a drummer, which explains how his arms stay so toned despite the amount of takeout he eats. He finds out that there is no place that feels more right than in these arms. He finds out that Josh's laugh makes his entire face light up like the sun, and every time he laughs it makes Tyler feel the way he did the first time he saw it.


End file.
